Having two different use years

[jaysue]

Two part question:

1) how much grief (or is it?) to have two different use years?

2) Would an October pair well with a December use year for us - we like to vacation in December/January and March and maybe occassionally late August

thanks as always for the advice

thanks
jaysue

 

[RobDoc]

Multiple Use Years do require a little extra organization, but can certainly be done. I use a computer checking program (MSMoney) and it does a good job. (I set up a separate "account" for each contract and make "deposits" (Use Year renewal) and write "checks" (make reservations).

If you travel primarily in Dec/Jan and March, a March Use Year would compliment your December Use Year and would also work for August trips.

Enjoy!

 

[kweaver]

Excellent idea on using banking software to keep track of your points, Doc. I'll have to set that up at home as well.

 

[joepoe]

Originally posted by jaysue
Two part question:

1) how much grief (or is it?) to have two different use years?

2) Would an October pair well with a December use year for us - we like to vacation in December/January and March and maybe occassionally late August

SOunds okay to me. If you frquently have to reschedule vacations, the October use year may be tough with an August ressie- but you could always use your Dec use year points for that and give yourself more space.

We have April and October and have no worries. If we confused, we call MS to confirm what we have. We usually cross over our April use year when we got to Boardwalk for spring breack at the end of March, and even that is pretty hassle free as long as you are clear on the phone on what is being banked and borrowed to accomplish the ressie.

Have fun!

 

[pmcpmc]

and you will have no problem

 

[DVC-Don]

We use the same system as Doc here. We have a VWL "checking" account and a OKW "checking" account. In fact I think I got the idea from him. We have August and & September use years. No problem since we set this system up.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

You need to be organized more than most DVC owners and also be ready to talk to a supervisor from time to time when the CM you are talking to at MS tells you that you can't combine your two contracts. We own September and October.

HBC

 

[jaysue]

Thanks all so far - Doc, good idea on using MS Money - I have the program but did not think of tracking DVC as an asset with accounts

thanks
jaysue

 

[Tinkerbelloncapecod]

I have no trouble keeping my April/June points. I keep it all in two excel spread sheets. One thing I found helpful was the confirmation #'s, cancellation #'s, Banking #'s and Banking Deadlines (as they are different for each point usage year). I also keep a column for Reservation Requests and after I come home I have a column for Room #'s and any other information so I can look back and refer to them. This is especially helpful with different resorts!

In a flash you can see how many points you have in both accounts and all the points you have used. (Make sure you print it all out in case you have computer problems).

I usually make sure that my account totals for each point usage year are the same as Member Services each and every time I make a reservation.

I hope this helps.

 

[dcfromva]

We just added on this year--we now have 3 different UYs. I don't think I would have even tried it had I not read some of the good ideas on how to manage these points on this board.

The trickiest part for me is figuring out which contract points are best suited for which visit to WDW (or wherever). For example, I am pretty sure we are going to use points for a visit to Disneyland summer '04. I am thinking the best contract to use would be the Feb 04 points, instead of the OCT'03 or Dec '03 points because if something came up and I had to cancel, I would have until Jan 31 '05 to reschedule. But then, I have to make sure this dovetails with my planned usage of the other contracts (ie being able to book at the 11 month window for my other planned stays.)

Does that make any sense?

-DC

 

[Granny]

We've got two use years at two resorts....and use a combination of Dave Frederickson's software to track points as well as a simple Excel spreadsheet to see where the points went and current balances.

It has not been any "grief" at all.